Love has always had a dark side—and we want to see yours. Elderfly Press is now accepting submissions for Be My Weird/Wyrd Valentine (working title), an anthology exploring the uncanny, unsettling, and sometimes downright horrifying side of romantic relationships.
We’re looking for stories, poems, essays, and black-and-white art that dive into the strange corners of love and desire—where passion turns perilous, intimacy hums with unease, and devotion blurs the line between beauty and terror. Whether it’s romance that defies reality, affection tinged with dread, or longing that transforms into something unrecognizable, we want work that lingers in the mind and twists the heart. Let the strange, the eerie, and the passionate collide—show us the love that frightens, bewilders, and enthralls.
This anthology welcomes:
- Genre fiction: horror, speculative, dystopian, weird, gothic, supernatural, sci-fi, and beyond.
- Literary fiction with a moody or unsettling edge
- Essays on personal upheaval, cultural shifts, liminal experiences
- Poetry rooted in transformation, chaos, or shadow
- Black-and-white visual art that fits the anthology’s mood
Submission Guidelines
- Short stories: 1,000–5,000 words
- Essays: up to 3,000 words
- Poetry: up to 5 poems per submission, 1–3 pages each
- Black-and-white art: up to 5 pieces; JPG or PNG; 300dpi preferred
Please submit original, unpublished work. Simultaneous submissions are fine—just let us know if your piece is accepted elsewhere.
Details
- Deadline: December 15, 2025
- Contributors: Will receive a free digital copy, discounted print copies for resale, and promotional support.
- Rights: We request First World English Rights and non-exclusive anthology rights. Contributors retain ownership of their work.
How to Submit
Please send your work to: submissions@elderflybooks.com with the Subject line: Weird Valentine Submission – [Your Name]
Include in your email:
- A brief cover letter (name, author bio up to 50 words, social links if desired)
- Your submission as a DOC, DOCX, PDF, or JPG/PNG file (depending on content type)
- If submitting multiple pieces, please attach them as one file.
Questions?
Email us at info@elderflybooks.com
Now available in print and on Kindle!
Check out our latest anthology, Bad Moon on the Rise: An Anthology of the Unsettling, now available in print and on Kindle!
Book Summary
What stirs when the moon turns dark? A secret long buried, a shadow at the edge of vision, a reckoning that cannot be avoided. Bad Moon on the Rise gathers stories, essays, poetry, and art that explore the uncanny corners of life.
Within these pages, you’ll encounter merpeople and vampires, terrifying nights in the wilderness, the quiet horror of domestic violence, poisonous plants, the extremes of human appetite, and all the small and large ways life can unsettle us.
From horror and speculative fiction to literary explorations of shadow and chaos, this anthology invites readers to step into the eerie, the strange, and the unknowable. Witness what rises with the bad moon—and confront the unsettling truths that linger there.
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